Japan Rebounds, HK Sinks

Ivaylo
01 Jun, 2006
New York City

Hong Kong

[R]7:30AM Japanese shares finished higher, other indices fell.[/R]
Asian markets finished mixed. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed higher, advancing 36.41 points, or 0.24%, to close at 15503.74 points. Auto stocks were among the gainers. Toyota Motor advanced 1.5%, real estate shares also added with Sekisui House gaining 2.2% and bank stocks recovered as well, as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 1.3%. Hong Kong’ Hang Seng Index closed 212.62 points lower, or 1.3%, to 15645.27, despite Bank of China's 15% gain. South Korea’s stocks plummeted, following banks shares, brokerage firms and auto makers. Kookmin Bank, dropped 3.1%, and Woori Finance Holdings shed 4.1%. Daewoo Securities fell 6.8% and Samsung Securities was down 3%. Hyundai Motor lost 3.5% to its lowest point since August 5, 2005. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.2% to 5060.6. BHP Billiton advanced 1.5% and Rio Tinto gained 1.9%.

[R]6:30AM European stocks fall on banks and commodity prices.[/R]
European markets fell in early trading. After an hour of trade, London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 5,698.5, the Xetra Dax declined 1% to 5,636.86 and the CAC 40 lost 0.6% to 4,902.84.On the corporate front, some gainers included Spain’s Cepsa gained 1.3%, Neste Oil added up 0.7%. The decliners were more. Among them were gas and water facilities, with RWE off 2.2%, Eon down 2.4%, Gaz de France slipping 1.3% and Suez down 1%. Despite a strong start, the telecoms slid. The only gainer was Belgacom, rising 0.4%, but Telia Sonera dropped 0.5%.

Light, sweet crude oil for July delivery lost 36 cents to $70.93 a barrel and July Brent at London's ICE Futures exchange shed 31 cents to $70.10 a barrel. Bullion shed more than 2% Thursday to a one-month low as gold's fall intensified on a firming dollar. Spot gold dropped to $629.80 an ounce, the lowest since April 27, before slightly recovering to $632. The dollar advanced against major currencies on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting buoyed expectations that the interest rates will be hiked. The greenback was trading at 112.55 yen, down 0.04 yen from late Wednesday in New York. The eurodropped to $1.2779, from $1.2814. The British pound fell to $1.8634 from $1.8689 in New York.

[R]5:00AM Gold, silver and platinum fall on profit-taking.[/R]
Most-traded August gold finished $11.50 lower at $649 an ounce Wednesday. The contract hit $665.80 earlier in the session, but then went down. July silver followed suit, closing 61.5 cents lower at $12.455 an ounce. July platinum settled the session $44.60 lower at $1,246.80 an ounce while September palladium finished down $9.50 at $353.15 an ounce. July copper contract fell 5 cents to $3.6240 per pound.

July crude oil finished 74 cents lower at $71.29 a barrel after dropping to $70.05 a barrel. June gasoline advanced 4.51 cents to $2.1900 a gallon after trading at $2.0725 a gallon. On the New York Board of Trade, July Arabica coffee ended 0.2 cent higher at 98.95 cents a pound. Raw sugar in foreign ports futures declined to four-month lows. The July contract finished down 0.45 cent at 15.46 cents a pound.